JUST (ANOTHER) DAY AT THE BEACH

I know I am not going to be ready to come home on Friday. There are balcony doors off the living room and our bedroom - - we have been sleeping with the door open at night because it has been so temperate and because it is so peaceful and soothing to hear the waves as we fall asleep - - from the deck, you could literally throw a rock and land it in the ocean.

Today was absolutely wonderful. The kids slept until about 8:30AM, then after breakfast, we headed down to the beach. We walked up and down the beach, combing for shells, then Chris and I sat in our beach chairs and read while the kids played in the sand and splashed in the water. We had lunch sitting on our deck that overlooks the ocean, then spent the afternoon on the beach in the same manner we had spent the morning. Chris and I were much more dilligent in our sunscreen application today - we are still pink from Monday, but added no new toasting to our bodies.

We got cleaned up about 5PM, then headed to a place called "Off the Hook" for dinner. They had a Wednesday night special of all-you-can-eat crablegs (Chris and I pigged out a little bit!) Our kids are very good eaters and always open to trying new things. Maggie has had crablegs before and loves them, so she was very excited to be sharing them with us. Before they arrived, Aleita told us she wanted some too. Once the waitress set the plate in front of me, Aleita took one look at them and said, "no thank you!" But, as she watched Chris, Maggie, and I devour them, she was too intrigued to pass them up. Soon, all four of us were eating crablegs as fast as Chris and I could crack them open. We filled up two good sized buckets with discarded crab shells before we threw in the proverbial towel.

I just got done a little bit ago reading Aleita her bedtime story and putting her to bed. She asked me to lay with her for a little bit -- I laid down with her, and in less than two minutes, she let out a deep sigh and went right to sleep. Tomorrow, the weather is supposed to be sunny and warm, so I am looking forward to spending our last full day at the beach again. I am so glad we decided to get away - - this trip has been wonderful.

THE BASKET WEAVERS

We woke this morning to a cooler day and slightly overcast skies. We decided to spend the day in downtown Charleston instead of on the beach shivering.

One of the first places we headed was for the downtown market. Everyday, hundreds of merchants set up their wares to sell to us good ol' tourists. My favorite thing to look at are the sweetgrass baskets. The black ladies that make the sweetgrass baskets sit and weave their baskets right there on site at the market. The baskets are actually quite expensive - more so than you would first suspect - until you realize that it takes about three to four days to weave a medium size basket. The tradition of sweetgrass basket weaving is one that began with the slaves and has actually been handed down through generations. Originally, the baskets were woven for use in the fields for gathering, as well as in the households for work baskets. The tradition was brought over from Africa by the slaves, and they adapted to the different materials here in the USA by using pines needles, strips of palm leaf, and of course, sweetgrass. I was talking with one of the ladies making the baskets and she said that the sweetgrass is getting harder and harder to come by because of the expansion of the tourist industry in Charleston. Condos, shopping malls, and restaurants now stand where sweetgrass used to grow. In her words, "ya'll are good for business, but you just may be the death of it." She said they actually had to go to Florida or Georgia to gather some of the materials because they are so hard to come by in South Carolina now. This factor too lends itself to the high basket cost.

The girls were very taken with the baskets and watching the ladies make them, especially Maggie. We were talking to one of the ladies that makes the baskets and Maggie was asking her some questions. The lady had her daughter there helping her make the baskets, and indicated to Maggie as such. She then asked Maggie, "Do you help your mama?" to which Maggie responded, "yes....she says that we are her servants." I froze in place and turned to look at Maggie, willing her to explain the context of why she make such a remark. (for the benefit of my occasional outside reader who do not know - - my husband and I are white, our children are black.) I thought to myself, "why didn't you just say that you're slaves???" I have just finished reading a biography of Mary Todd Lincoln, so I think I am especially sensitive to that topic.

At any rate, I feel the compulsion to explain. We have a game that we play with the kids - allow me to elaborate; a few weeks ago, we read the kids the book of Peter Pan and watched the movie. The kids would then say things like, "I'm Tinkerbell....I'm Peter Pan.....you're Captain Hook, etc..." One of the other story lines that the kids love to discuss is that of kings and queens and princesses and such. A few days ago, they were playing that game, and I said, "I am the queen and you are all my servants!!" (ma...ha...ha...ha...) They knew I was kidding....I was so totally just teasing.....and yet.....here it was, getting thrown up in my face in front of the descendent of a slave. Great. I was ready for her to give me "that look."

But I was pleasantly surprised. She said, "so what do you have to do at home?" Maggie honestly answered, "Clean my room and pick up the toys in the basement." Whew. The lady laughed and said, "honey...I think you have it pretty good."

A SWEETGRASS BASKET LIKE THIS WOULD SELL FOR ABOUT $175 IN THE CHARLESTON MARKETS:

HEY YA'LL!!

Greetings from the land of grits, cornbread and sweet tea. I didn't think I would be blogging again until May, but I brought my laptop along for the kids to watch movies in the car, and it turns out, we have wireless connection in our condo. So, lucky you . . . um, I mean, ya'll, won't have to wait until then. (for those of you who do not know, we are vacationing this week in Charleston, SC. We are actuallly staying on at a beachfront condo on the Isle of Palms - - today it was 75 degrees, sunny and slightly breezy - - and every day this week is supposed to be more of the same.)

We had a funny today at lunch that I thought I would share. We were eating at a wonderful little beachside bar/restaurant called the Banana Cabana, and our waitress was talking with the kids a bit. Aleita and Maggie were telling her their names and bending her ear a bit, when Maggie said, "there is me, then Aleita, but we left the baby in the car. Mommy wouldn't let us bring Maribel with us." She was speaking of her DOLL baby, but the waitress gave her a wide-eyed look, then glanced at us as if to plead, "she is just kidding, right?" I quicklly corrected with, "her DOLL baby is in the car." The waitress slightly exhaled and gave a nervous laugh, obviously relieved that she wasn't going to need to dash inside and make a quick call to DCFS.

Rustic, Schmustic

I am so sick of the snow. I am definitely ready for warmer weather. We got another five inches of snow yesterday, and it is going to be in the 30s all week long, with the possibility of more snow this Friday. Enough already!

Of late, I have been living vicariously through my vacation planning. We are going to go to Charleston, SC next month, and I am more than ready for some sun and warm weather. The condo that we are staying in is right on the beach, ocean front. The kids have been to the gulf several times, but this will be their first trip to the Atlantic. They are going to be in for a bit of a surprise when they realize that they are not in store for the white sugar sand beaches and warm peaceful waters of southern Alabama. I am excited for them to actually have the opportunity to be able to collect seashells. The only ones you can find where we vacation in Alabama are teeny tiny ones, if at all.

My husband’s family are all taking a group family vacation this year. They did ask us to come along, but two things prevented it. The first is that the week they chose in April, Maggie is in school all week, and I don’t want her to miss an entire week of school. (During the week we are going to be gone to Charleston, she is out of school for teacher meetings three days, and we are taking her out the other two.) The other reason is their choice of vacation venue.

The rest of the Hale family will be spending a week camping in Kentucky. Go with God, ya’ll. Becky don’t camp. I was assured that the campgrounds they are staying at are very modern, and they even have "rustic" cabins that we could stay in if we didn't want to tent camp. ("Rustic" read: no indoor plumbing.) The following week, I will fondly think of their week cooking over the open fire and peeing outdoors while I sit and sip my beer from the deck of my condo overlooking the ocean.